Bisons set for big weekend at Vanderbilt

The Christmas season is over, and now spring season sports are back in full swing at Lipscomb with competition already underway. To start off the season, track and field and men’s tennis will both be traveling to Vanderbilt over the weekend. Men’s tennis has added four new players to its roster, enabling them to participate in their main season with a full team. Coach Mario Hernandez is excited for the next few months and believes that the bright, new players will bring a fresh dimension to the team. “There are a lot of things we have to get used to, especially being such a young team,” Hernandez said. “From what I have seen at practices, the guys are pumped to play and I can see that they are hungry to start this season.” Freshman Philippe Courteau has his eyes set on a victory. “This is my first collegiate match and I am excited to compete with these guys as a new Bison,” Courteau said. “I have waited two years for this moment since I began looking to play for a University, and I am ready to get out there and hit balls against some of the top men in the country.” The match begins on Jan. 16  at 5 p.m. at Vanderbilt’s indoor courts. The Commodores are standing at no.19 in the country, with one of their players in the top 10 when the NCAA rankings were revealed at the beginning of January. The rankings have given the Bisons some momentum, and they are looking for an upset. “The boys are coming into this competition as the underdogs, we have respect for this...

Lipscomb softball’s historic run ends against Lady Vols

The Lipscomb softball team’s season ended Sunday after losing to the University of Tennessee 2-0 in the Knoxville regional championship game. The game was a pitchers duel until the sixth inning. Lady Vol sophomore outfielder Haley Tobler led off the inning with a single. Sophomore catcher/infielder Lexi Overstreet hit a two-run home run to plate the only runs of the game for either team. Lipscomb junior infielder Paige Neely led the Lady Bisons with two hits. Senior infielder Kristen Sturdivant earned one hit. Senior pitcher Ashley Anderson went the distance for the Lady Bisons. She gave up five hits and struck out nine. Her final record this season fell to 20-8. Seven Lady Bisons finished their careers at Lipscomb including: Anderson, infielder Bridgette Begle, catcher Rena’ Cothron, catcher/infielder Haley Elliott, infielder Kelsey Cartwright, pitcher/infielder Heather Parker, and Sturdivant. Lipscomb became the first softball team from the Atlantic Sun Conference to play in a regional championship game. The Lady Bisons finished the season with an overall record of...

Lady Bisons win two Saturday, advance to NCAA Regional Final

The Lipscomb softball team won two games on Saturday to advance to the final day of the NCAA Knoxville Regional on the University of Tennessee’s campus. The Lady Bisons will have to beat the Tennessee Lady Vols twice on Sunday to advance to a super regional. Lipscomb eliminated Charleston Southern in the first game on Saturday. Freshman infielder Mimi Cartwright doubled to score sophomore infielder Brittany Elmore to give the Lady Bisons a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Elmore scored on junior infielder Paige Neely’s single up the middle. Lady Bisons had a 2-0 lead in the sixth. Charleston Southern tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom on the sixth. Lipscomb would strike again in the seventh off a solo homerun from senior infielder Kristen Sturdivant. Pinch runner Jordan Abell scored on freshman outfielder Dee Baddley’s single to give the Lady Bisons the 4-2 lead. Charleston Southern failed to score in the bottom of the seventh. Senior pitcher Ashley Anderson picked up her 20th win giving up six hits while striking out four. Lipscomb had a rematch against Virginia Tech in game two on Saturday. The Lady Bisons bats did not disappoint. Lipscomb recorded 12 hits and scored 12 runs. Senior infielder Haley Elliot hit two homeruns and had six RBIs. Junior outfielder Brianne Welch had a triple and an RBI. Senior infielder Bridgette Begle recorded a three hit game with an RBI. Elmore and Neely both had two hits. Elmore earned two RBIs. Virginia Tech scored three runs. Lipscomb sophomore pitcher Tanner Sanders went the distance for Lipscomb giving up seven hits with one strikeout. The...

Lady Bisons drop first game of NCAA tourney, next one up Saturday afternoon

The Lipscomb softball team lost 4-3 to Virginia Tech in their first game of the NCAA Knoxville Regional Friday afternoon in at Lee Stadium on the University of Tennessee’s campus in Knoxville.  The Lady Bisons scored first. Sophomore infielder/outfielder Brittany Elmore led off with an infield single then would reach second on a passed ball. Freshman infielder Mimi Cartwright reached on an error. Elmore would score to give Lipscomb the 1-0 lead after one inning. Tech junior infielder Lauren Gaskill and junior infielder Kylie McGoldrick got back-to-back hits in the third. A pitch to load the bases hit redshirt sophomore catcher Katey Smith. Senior outfielder Amanda Ake hit a triple to clear the bases and give Tech a 3-1 lead. In the sixth, senior infielder Kristen Sturdivant hit a single to left center. Junior infielder Jordan Abell came in to pinch run for Sturdivant. Senior infielder Haley Elliot was walked, and freshman Becca Dean pinch ran for Elliot. Junior outfielder Brianne Welch scored on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. Senior infielder Bridgette Begle hit a single to score Abell and Dean. Begle’s RBIs tied the game up 3-3 after six innings. Gaskill singled in the top of the seventh. Tech’s freshman outfielder Vanessa Gonzalez’s hit a ball in the gap between shortstop and third that tipped off Begle’s glove at shortstop. The ball ended up on the top step of the Lipscomb dugout, which was ruled a dead ball. Gaskill scored on the play to give Virginia Tech the 4-3 lead. The Lady Bisons did not go down without a fight. In the bottom of the seventh, senior...
Kerry Patterson serves students and the world through engineering

Kerry Patterson serves students and the world through engineering

After a successful career in military defense engineering, Kerry Patterson thought he’d arrive at age 65 and start sitting “on the porch in a rocking chair somewhere.” But now that he’s reached retirement age, Patterson says he’ll keep teaching classes and going on engineering missions trips as long as he can. Patterson, who started teaching engineering at Lipscomb nearly 10 years ago, said he entered education as an escape from the “commercial rat race.” According to Patterson, his old friend from the University of Tennessee Fred Gillam, former head of Lipscomb’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering, called one day to encourage Patterson to join the teaching staff at Lipscomb. “When I interviewed with the provost for the position,” Patterson said, “Dr. Bledsoe said, ‘I don’t really think I have much choice because I promised your friend that a condition of his taking the job was that he had to be able to hire you.’” After a three-year stint in the U.S. Army missile command, Patterson spent 25 years doing work related to military ballistic missile defense systems. But Patterson said education had been a possibility in the back of his mind for years. “I always thought that sometime down the road I’d like to teach and I’d like to teach in a Christian university,” he said. “But since there weren’t very many Church of Christ schools that had engineering, I thought I would probably have to settle for math or physics. When this college of engineering thing came along, it was an even better situation than I had anticipated.” Patterson said he knew when he came to Lipscomb that he...